22 April 2014

Macmillan Dictionary - 5 Years Online





This month Macmillan Dictionary Online is celebrating its 5th birthday. Thus, Macmillan has prepared a number of surprises. One of them is a Treasure Hunt and a lucky explorer will win an iPad mini. Visit their website here to participate and find out more.



Another one includes a video in which you can hear what Macmillan Dictionary's most popular features are and see what it means for learners of English. 



Also, Macmillan Dictionary has introduced a brand-new game testing your knowledge of common words used with the verbs make, do, give and take





Have you ever used Macmillan Dictionary online? What do you think? Are you satisfied?

21 April 2014

Choose Oxford for Secondary


Presentations of Oxford's bestselling books for secondary schools


Date: 26th April 2014

Venue:  Belgrade, Childrens' Cultural Centre/ Dečiji kulturni centar, Takovska 8, Belgrade, Serbia

Speaker: Gareth Davies





Gareth Davies is a freelance teacher, teacher trainer and materials developer based in the Czech Republic.
He has been in the ELT industry for 19 years teaching in Portugal, the UK and the Czech Republic. Between 2002 and 2007 Gareth ran a Trinity CertTESOL course in Prague and since 2005 he has worked closely with Oxford University Press, delivering teacher training and developing materials.
Gareth has contributed material to a range of titles including SolutionsHeadwayBusiness One:One and Business Result.
Gareth is also an author of fiction and is interested in developing creative writing ideas for the classroom.

Programme


Date
Time
Programme
26th April 2014
16:00 – 17:00
Headway 4th edition – Integrating modern and traditional approaches to English Language Teaching
17:00 - 17:30
Coffee break / book exhibition and more...
26th April 2014
18:00 - 19:00
Solutions - Find the Solutions to motivating your students
19:00 - 19:30
Coffee break / book exhibition and more...



These presentations are not a State approved teacher training programmes but participants will receive an Oxford University Press certificate of attendance.






17 April 2014

Solutions - Serbian Culture page takmičenje





Oxford University Press - Predstavništvo za Srbiju organizuje Solutions Serbian Culture page takmičenje i poziva sve nastavnike i učenike koji koriste udžbenike Solutions (prvo i drugo izdanje) da osmisle Culture stranicu kojom će predstaviti kulturu Srbije, kroz ponuđene teme. 

Radove treba poslati u PDF formatu na oupserbia@oup.com najkasnije do 20. maja 2014.






16 April 2014

Ed2.0Work European Competition 2.0





The Ed2.0Work European project is looking at how Internet technologies and mobile apps can be used in teaching, and a Europe-wide competition for teachers is organised. 

How do you use technology, apps, games or Web2.0 tools in your teaching? 

This is your chance to show your great ideas for teaching to the world and win prizes and a expense paid trip to present your ideas at European Conference in the Applications of Enabling Technologies, 2014 20-21 November 2014, Glasgow, Scotland.

Entries can be made until the deadline on 12 September 2014 at 12.00 noon Central European Time. 








15 April 2014

ETp Live! conference 2014


The ETp Live! conference takes place in Brighton on 21 June 2014.

Venue: Holiday Inn, Brighton

Speakers: Jeremy Harmer, Ken Wilson, Philip Kerr, Chia Suan Chong, Dennis Davy, Mark Almond, Antonia Clare, Anna Musielak, Mike Hogan, Catriona Johnson, 


Aimed at professional English teachers, as well as Directors of Studies, ETp Live! will bring the practical approach of English Teaching professional to a full one-day event, which will feature a variety of seminars, interactive workshops, networking and facilitated discussions, all focusing on enabling professional English language teachers to improve their practice.

For more information and to register:

14 April 2014

UNESCO English language day: English, speech and society


Date: Tuesday 22 April 2014

Time: 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM (BST)

Venue: British Council, 10 Spring Gardens, SW1A 2BN

Speaker: Urszula Clark

LONDON + LIVE ONLINE

This seminar draws upon recent, Economic and Social Science Research Council (ESRC) funded research into the relationship between English and social, regional and national identities. This research contributes to a shift in conceptual thinking about language(s) and varieties from being perceived as static, totalised and immobile to being more dynamic, fragmented and mobile. Such research has implications for language and education policies not only within the UK, but also the teaching of English worldwide. Increasingly, variation of English is coming to mark an identity linked with physical and imagined places and spaces in ways that cut across other factors such as age, gender, social class and ethnicity that also mark a shift in thinking from language ‘deficit’ to language‘difference.’ In line with this change, there has been a corresponding ‘weakening’ of the role of traditional gatekeepers of a single, monolithic variety of English such as the BBC, certain aspects of the media and corpus approaches to the compilation of dictionaries and grammars of English. In addition, one of the paradoxes of the use of English across the world for the purposes of communication in the global media, trade, travel, medicine and so on has been that the majority of the world’s population today is largely bilingual, if not multilingual, both within and beyond nations where English is the mother tongue. 

This seminar then, explores such issues in relation to the teaching of English worldwide, and particularly the debate of the local teacher of English as native speaker versus multilingual local teachers who are expert users of English.

Who is this for?
All English language teachers; English language education policy makers; interested members of the
public; researchers into the teaching of English.

Programme (approx.)
1830 – 1900 Welcome and refreshments
1900 – 2000 English, speech and society with Urszula Clark
2000 – 2030 Networking reception


Attendees will also have the opportunity to discuss global job opportunities with
the British Council.
Every seminar is free of charge, however places are limited.

11 April 2014

Verb Machine


Here is an interesting learning tool created by British Council. You can make any English tense or verb form by clicking just four buttons. It can help you to understand and visualise how English verb forms are constructed. Try it out and tell me what you think.


Verb Machine



10 April 2014

Relaxation and leisure words and expressions






I Some adjectives describing free time and leisure pursuits

fruitful - producing good results; (possible examples: cooperating with sb in an activity)

  • It was a most fruitful discussion, with both sides agreeing to adopt a common policy. 

lucrative - producing a lot of money; (selling your own arts or crafts, writing computer games,..)

  • Painting has been a lucrative pursuit for her.She often sells her paintings online.

rewarding - giving a lot of positive experience and satisfaction; (doing voluntary work, helping charities)

  • Textbook writing can be an intellectually and financially rewarding activity. 

relaxing/calming - reducing stress, giving a peaceful feeling; (listening to music, reading)

  • I find swimming so relaxing

therapeutic - making you healthy in body and/or mind; (gardening, meditation, yoga)

  • Fishing is such a therapeutic activity. It makes me feel good, and teaches me patience.

time-consuming - taking a lot of time to do; (being a member of a committee, being president of a club)

  • I enjoyed being a secretary of the sports club but it was very time-consuming. I had to give up two evenings a week to do it. 


II Some informal words describing the way  people spend their leisure

couch potato - a person who watches a lot of television and does not have an active style of life;
  • I'm a bit of a couch potato. I spend hours every day just watching TV.

culture vulture - someone who is very interested in anything cultural; 
  • David's a real culture vulture; he goes to every theatre and art gallery he can find.

dabbler - a person who never keeps doing one activity for long;
  • Jane's a bit of a dabbler: she does a pastime for a couple of weeks, then she gets bored and starts something different.

shopaholic - someone addicted to shopping;
  • Dina's a shopaholic. She buys all sorts of things she doesn't need.

alcoholic - a person who is unable to give up the habit of drinking alcohol very often and in large amounts;
  • Most alcoholics secretly hope that they will be able to drink sociably like other people.
doer - someone who gets actively involved in something, rather than just thinking or talking about it;
  • There are too many thinkers and not enough doers in this office. 

III Expressions and collocations connected with involvement in activities


be heavily into sth - informal: to be very interested in and involved with something;
  • When I was younger I was heavily into politics. 

go off - informal: stop liking, lose interest in;

  • I went off football and I started playing tennis instead.



get up to - do something, often something that other people would disapprove of;
  • I wonder what those two got up to yesterday? 

lock yourself away - isolate yourself from the world;
  • She locks herself away for hours in front of the computer.

hooked on sth - addicted to sth;
  • She's totally hooked on playing games these days.

full diary - a lot of commitments/activities;
  • Are you busy this week? Yes, I have a pretty full diary.


I hope you find the post useful.

Please post your comments if you like this kind od posts.


9 April 2014

Webinar: Video cameras in the hands of learners


Dates: 15th and 16th April 2014

Times: 09:30-11:00 and 15:00-16:30 (BST)

Speaker: Jamie Keddie


    Jammie Keddie
Teacher, storyteller and international conference presenter.
The creator of Lessonstream, a resource site for teachers and a British Council ELTon award winner.

Oxford University Press author. Titles include Images in the Resource Books for Teachers series (2009) and Bringing Online Video into the Classroom (2014).






Description: Video-recording devices can give extra depth and meaning to the activities, tasks and projects that students get involved with.
In this practical webinar, possibilities for mobile phones, tablet computers and other video devices in the hands of learners will be considered, both in and out of the classroom.
Different technical, practical and pedagogical issues will be addressed along the way.




7 April 2014

Webinar: What good teaching materials should do: Part 2 - Grammar


Date and time: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 3:00 pm
                        GMT Summer Time (London, GMT+01:00)

Program: Cambridge University Press ELT webinar series

Duration: 1 hour

Presenter: Jeanne McCarten









Jeanne McCarten taught English in Sweden, France, Malaysia, and the U.K., and has many years of experience publishing English teaching materials, specializing in the areas of grammar   and vocabulary. She was closely involved in the development of the spoken English sections of    the Cambridge International Corpus. Currently a freelance ELT author, her main interests lie in applying insights from corpus research to language teaching materials. She is co-author of Touchstone,Viewpoint, and Grammar for Business, published by Cambridge University Press.

Description:  In Part 2 of the series the focus is on features of classroom materials that can contribute to the effective learning of grammar. For example, using inductive techniques to convey grammar rules is likely to improve a student’s retention of grammar patterns. Highlighting common grammatical errors may help improve students’ performances in tests, as will differentiating between written and spoken grammar. The speaker will consider various factors that can usefully contribute to the effective teaching and learning of grammar in English.

4 April 2014

Webinar: Real World - Helping students with functional language


Date and time: Tuesday, April 8th 2014 3:00 pm 
GMT Summer Time (London, GMT+01:00) 

Topic: Real World - Helping students with functional language

Presenter: Chris Redston, face2face author

Chris Redston has been in ELT for more than fifteen years, teaching in Turkey, Argentina and the UK for International House. He has also run teacher-training courses in Italy and the UK, and is an experienced author of adult course materials. He has travelled extensively, visiting over forty countries.

Duration: 1 hour


3 April 2014

Success and failure idioms





Most people have a burning ambition which they hope to achieve. Hopefully, they will do their best to fulfill their ambition. However, it might be thwarted or frustrated. Not many people, unfortunately, achieve their life's ambition. And most of us have at least one unfulfilled ambition.


rising star - a person who is likely to be successful;
> Joanna's still young but I think she's going to do well here.
You're right. She's definitely one of the rising stars.

burning ambition - very great ambition;
> I've always had a burning ambition to be an actress.

up-and-coming - likely to achieve success soon or in the near future;
> You play basketball, don't you? Has your team won anything this season?
No, but next year will be better. We've got some up-and-coming young players who are hungry for success.

the sky's the limit - there is no limit;
> What's the pay like in your company?
Well, if you work hard and you're good at selling, the sky's the limit.

the world's sb's oyster - if the world is someone's oyster, they can do what they want to or go where they want to;
> Jack chose to do computing at university.
Well, he's a clever guy. Once you've got the degree, you can get a job almost anywhere you want - the world's your oyster.

NOTE: Today oysters are expensive and few people eat them, but a hundred years ago they were eaten by everyone. They were one of the commonest forms of seafood. 

go up in the world (US move up in the world- to have more money or a better social position than you had before;
> He used to sleep on the floor of a friend's flat and now he owns a chain of hotels. That's what I call going up in the world.

hungry for success strongly or eagerly desirous; 
You play basketball, don't you? Has your team won anything this season?
No, but next year will be better. We've got some up-and-coming young players who are hungry for success.

high-flyer (also high-flier) - someone who has a lot of ability and a strong wish to be successful and is therefore expected to achieve a lot;
High-flyers in the industry typically earn 25% more than their colleagues.

move heaven and earth - to do everything you can to achieve something;
> She'll move heaven and earth to get it done on time.

pull your socks up - to make an effort to improve your work or behaviour because it is not good enough;
> He's going to have to pull his socks up if he wants to stay in the team.

set your heart on sth - to want to get or achieve something very much;
> My sister doesn't want to go to university. She's setting her heart on becoming a singer.

leave no stone unturned - to do everything you can to achieve a good result, especially when looking for something;
> The police said that they were confident of finding the escaped prisoners and would leave no stone unturned until every one of them was back under lock and key.

set your sights on sth - to decide to achieve something;
> Justin has set his sights on winning the competition.

pull out all the stops - to do everything you can to make something successful;
> They pulled out all the stops for their daughter's wedding.

stop at nothing - If you stop at nothing to achieve something, you are willing to do anything in order to achieve it, even if it involves danger, great effort or harming other people;
> Andrew is ruthless.He stabbed Jack in the back, and reported Jill for being late. He's determined to become Area Manager.  He'll stop at nothing until he gets the job.

 get left behind - not adapting quickly enough; not keeping up with others;
> People who have never used a computer get left behind when it comes to using social media like Twitter.



And now a quick revision.

Complete the expressions:

  1. ........ and coming
  2. a .......... ambition
  3. the world's your.........
  4. set your ........ on
  5. get ....... behind
  6. ......... for success
  7. a high-........
  8. go up in the.........
  9. move.......... and earth
  10. a rising..........
  11. pull your......... up
  12. the sky's the.........
  13. stop at..........
  14. leave no......... unturned
  15. pull out all the............

Is there anything you would move heaven and earth to achieve?

Photo source: harveymackay.com

2 April 2014

My Classroom 2


Oxford Centar Belgrade announces the third Module of the accredited Teacher Training Seminar ''My Classroom 2''.

The seminar is accredited by the Ministry of Education for the school year 2013/2014, No. 826 (First Accredited for the school year 2010/2011, No. 313).


Each participant will receive an Express Publishing seminar pack.


City
Module III
Niš
12. April 2014 
venue: O.Š. “Vožd Karađorđe”, Ul. Vožda Karađorđa 29
Beograd
26. April 2014
venue: O.Š. “Skadarlija”, Francuska 26


TIMETABLE
Niš/Beograd
Module III
11.30 – 12.00
Registration
12.00 – 13.00
Workshop: LET’S HAVE FUN
13.00 – 13.10
Break
13.10 – 14.10
Workshop: INDISPENSABLE TITBITS
14.10 – 14.40
Refreshments/Book Exhibition
14.40 – 15.40
Workshop: WHAT YOU GET IS WHAT YOU GIVE
15.40 – 15.50
Break
15.50 – 16.50
Workshop: TEACHER READ-ALOUDS


1 April 2014

Cambridge Day 2014



Ovog aprila, Cambridge University Press u saradnji sa Cambridge English Language Assessment-om organizuje godišnju konferenciju Cambridge Day. Predavanja su posvećena veštinama učenja pravopisa za sve uzraste prema metodi "phonics", komunikativnom pristupu u obrazovanju učenika tinejdžerskog uzrasta kao i pripremi za Cambridge English ispite. Ovogodišnji predava Keren Eliot (Karen Elliott), Nika Bilbroa (Nick Bilbrough) i Boba Obija (Bob Obee). Više o autorima i predavanjima možete pročitati ovde.


Cambridge Day,
subota 12. april,


Agenda

09.00 – 10.00 Registracija
10.00 – 10.15 Uvodni govori
10.15 – 11.15 Plenarno predavanje: Keren Eliot
11.15 – 11.45 Kafe pauza
11.45 – 12.45 Radionica: Nik Bilbrou
12.45 – 13.45 Pauza za ručak
13.45 – 14.45 Plenarno predavanje: Bob Obi
14.45 – 15.45 Radionica: Bob Obi
15.45 – 16.15 Podela certifikata



Ako želite da se prijavite za učešće na konferenciji, neophodno je popuniti ovaj formular. Broj mesta je ograničen. Potvrde o učešću na seminaru će biti poslate u sredu, 9. aprila 2014. godine. Sve konferencije u organizaciji Cambridge University Press-a i Cambridge English Language Assessment-a su besplatne za sve učesnike. Konferencija Cambridge Day je odobrena od strane ZUOV-a i nosi jedan bod profesionalnog usavršavanja (NB zbog tehničke greške seminar je u katalogu Zavoda prijavljen za 13. april).